


Fascinated

by CaptainDog



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Fluff, Humour, M/M, Star Trek: TOS, spirk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-12-07
Updated: 2011-12-07
Packaged: 2017-10-27 01:07:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,968
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/289900
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainDog/pseuds/CaptainDog
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>John watches Star Trek.  So does Sherlock.  Major nerdage ensues</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fascinated

**Author's Note:**

> Now with Thai translation here: https://iimshi.wordpress.com/2016/06/01/translated-fic-sherlock-feat-star-trek-fascinated/

Quiet night in. Peaceful. Dull. Hateful. Telly switches on.

 _Pause, chatter, click. Pause, chatter, click. Pause, chatter, pause, click_  
(quiz show that he says he doesn't like, but has a hard time not watching).   
_Pause, music, approving noise._  
Unfamiliar theme music. Female vocals, but no lyrics. 1960's. Swishing sound effects. The original run of that series with the police box? No, not enough synthetic sound. Spend far too much time deciding whether or not to glance over and see what it is. Music dies down. Laughter.

“Oh god I'd forgotten about this episode.” Slowly turn head to see. John in view first. Cheek muscles bunched upwards, definitely a grin. Stars across the television, yellow lettering. Correct in 1960's assumption. Screen changes before episode title can be read. The word 'time' is in it. Science-fiction. American. Watch as captain interacts with crew. Character is charismatic, brave, often reckless. Clearly well-acquainted with sex with women, possibly men. Confident. Interactions with first officer...interesting. First officer clearly non-human, obvious from prosthetic ears and manner of speech. Logical. Is it possible that there is a character like this on television? Fascinated.

“It's _Star Trek._ ” Startled (not good, impractical to be startled, how does he do that?). Look up. Smile...thing. Confused smile? No. Amused? Certainly, but not quite all. File away for later (quite a large catalogue of his facial expressions; there are quite a number of completely entrancing, no fascinating, no confusing ones). Oh, he's waiting for a response. Grunt noncommittally. Glare. He chuckles.

“It's a good show. I used to watch it as a kid. Glad to see they've got reruns on.” Continue to glare. Say nothing. He shrugs and turns back to the screen. Keep partial attention on John in case he turns and begins talking again. Medical officer is irritable. Possibly a drinking problem, definitely xenophobic. Divorced wife and estranged child. From somewhere in Southern United States. Close friends with captain, but easily annoyed due to captain's proximity to first officer.

Captain conversing with first officer (Vulcan, apparently. File for later; look for similarities between species and Greco-Roman mythology). Their interaction...abnormal. Appears as if first officer (Spock, mustn't delete until end of episode) doesn't make close bonds with humans, although the captain (Kirk, mustn't delete until end of episode) is offering to sacrifice his career for Spock's life. Friendship, then? Oh...interesting. Notice John turning again (will NOT be startled). He's only glancing, not going to speak. Urge to speak.

“Is Captain Kirk's speech always this halting?” Laughter.

“Yeah, that's sort of Shatner's thing. He gets made fun of a lot for it.” Grunt. Continue watching. Ship (Enterprise, an apt title for a starship. Optimistic, in that very American way) arrives at planet Vulcan (hot and dry, red – phrase 'hot as Vulcan' origin – relation to Roman version of Hephaestus). For such a logical people, their customs hold little water. Clothing is completely impractical, as is this procession. Reminded that it is 1960's era American television, their illogic is explained, if not forgiven.

Kirk is clearly intelligent and resourceful, but has gaping holes in his common sense. Obviously should have known to decline duel. Too late now. Skilled fighter, despite the frankly silly weapons. John chuckles when Kirk's shirt is torn and chest is cut. Glance at him. Confused. He notices.

“In nearly every episode his shirt gets ripped.” he explains. “It's like a running gag, only it's supposed to be serious. I think the studio just wanted to up the sex appeal of William Shatner.” Grunt again. Go back to watching battle...interesting.

Of course the captain isn't dead. The cinematography would be completely different if he had. Creators were clearly reassuring audience that he's still alive. Obviously Spock has no inkling of cinematography (since when have I been able to suspend disbelief this much?). Return to ship. Very...upset regarding death of captain. More than would be expected for such an emotionless mind. Return of Kirk. Oh.   
_Fascinating._  
End of episode.

John grinning.

“Well, what did you think, Sherlock? Bit of a classic, there.”

“I presume that this storyline is continued in the next episode.” Must be on tomorrow then, next programme is starting already. John looks confused (completely separate folder for his looks of confusion).

“Erm, no. _Star Trek_ 's episodic. I think there's one two-parter, but they hardly ever address anything that's happened in previous episodes.” Baffled. _How can that be?_

“Then how is the romantic subplot addressed?”

“Romantic subplot? I don't think there is any. There's an episode where Kirk kisses Uhura – she's the communications officer.”

“I gathered who she was. No, the romantic subplot between Kirk and Spock.”

“Wh-what? There isn't one!”

“Of course there is, they made no effort to hide it. Frankly I'm surprised that this was able to air in the United States during the sixties. I was under the impression that homosexuality was frowned upon at the time. A good deal more than it is today.” Create new folder for the expression John is making. Caught between confusion, irritation, indignation, and amusement.

“Well, yeah, it was. But there's definitely no romance between them. I mean, Spock can barely make friends, let alone get a lover. Love is illogical to him.”

“Quite, but there's clearly an exception in Kirk's case.”

“I am not seeing that at all.” John turns. Argumentative, but friendly. Friendly pop culture debate? Shouldn't engage, will be dull. Continue anyway.

“Spock doesn't do the romance thing.” John continues. “I mean, didn't you notice Nurse Chapel? She's obviously got a thing for Spock, and he doesn't even notice.”

“Of course he noticed. Didn't you see the way he asked her to bring him soup? Of course he doesn't really care about her, he's only using her to suit his purposes.”

“I don't understand that. She's nice and thoughtful. Pretty too. Obviously intelligent, if she got into Starfleet as a medical officer.”

“Dull. Mousy. The type who'll run and find a 'gay best friend' after Spock's demonstrated his disinterest.”

“God, you've really over-analysed this, haven't you?”

“It comes naturally. And most of it is glaringly obvious.”

“Right. Well. Anyway, Kirk and Spock are definitely not in any sort of romance.”

“I rather think they are, John. Didn't you notice the way they looked at each other?”

“...No.”

“They looked each other directly in the eyes for an extended period of time.”

“Yeah, but they put that in for dramatic effect!”

“The only scenes that use that type of staring for dramatic effect are romantic ones. Never platonic.”

John stares. Can't work out what to say next. Count seconds before he speaks again: 13.

“I still say you're wrong.”

“That doesn't make me any less right.”

“Well what about Kirk? You haven't seen any other episodes. He gets with women all the time. There's no way he's gay.”

“There are far too many explanations as to why he might harbour homosexual feeling towards Spock in spite of that for me to bother listing. Foremost of which is that he could be bisexual, or simply have an exception.”

John raises his hands. Defeat.

“Whatever. Believe what you want.” He stands, starts walking to the kitchen. Stops. Looks down at me.

“You know, you remind me a little of Spock. All cool and logical.” Raise an eyebrow.

“Preposterous.” He laughs.

John out shopping. Take his computer. Google, YouTube, Google, Russian video site.   
_Star Trek_  
. Wikipedia. Episode List. Pick and choose. Analyse. Analyse. Analyse. Fascinating. Slightly outraged. Google, LiveJournal, DeviantArt, forums. Apparently thousands of teenaged girls are also outraged. Quickly delete history and shut down computer; John's footsteps on stairs. 

“What've you been up to?” He puts the milk and bread away.

“Telly.”

“Oh yeah? Anything good on?” He's not listening, just talking to fill the silence. Answer anyway.

“ _Star Trek._ ” A chuckle.

“Liked it, did you? Suppose you like Spock a lot. Your sort of bloke, isn't he?”

“I appreciate his logical mind, though the writers were clearly not writing from any sort of experience. I find the Captain a far more engaging character, however.”

“Oh really? Why's that?”

“He manages to be intelligent but illogical and human. He's very human. It should be infuriating, but he manages to make it work.”

“Still think he and Spock are together?”

“It's never addressed in the series, but I am convinced that the subtext is intentional. It's frankly insulting, actually. The show's original audience saw, but clearly did not observe. It's aggravating that nothing was ever made of it. The sexual tension is quite distracting. Difficult to believe that the show got through three seasons and quite a number of films without so much as a kiss.” John sighs. Amused, but exasperated.

“I just don't see evidence for that.”

“There are so many signs, John! Kirk watching Spock while he's bent over his scientific instruments. Clearly he doesn't realise when he's doing it, but Spock certainly does. It's possible that he bends over like that on purpose to attract Kirk's eye. I've already mentioned the prolonged staring. Then there's proximity. Standing so close and being so familiar with touch is unheard of between platonic friends. Especially considering Spock's natural aversion to touch. Then there's their loyalty. Kirk places his loyalty to Spock above his loyalty to the Enterprise. That's saying something, considering the emphasis he puts on keeping the ship safe. They make countless sacrifices for each other throughout the series. While Kirk may not be aware of his feelings for Spock, Spock is certainly self-aware enough to realise his own.”

“But Spock doesn't really have feelings. I mean, he gets them during Pon Farr, or when he's under some sort of mind-control, but Vulcans are emotionless.”

“You forget that Spock is half human, and also hides his emotions. They are not absent, simply under the surface. He isn't capable of great empathy, but he at least has strong emotions for Kirk.”

John stares.

“Christ, how much have you been over-thinking this?”

“More than I'd like to admit.”

“Right. Well. I'm getting tea. Want some?”

“No thank you. Fancy a game of chess?”

John is reluctant to play on the grounds that I will beat him. A completely fair hang-up, but I manage to convince him. His strategy fails, so he begins to make seemingly random moves. Another file created; his expression when he gets me into checkmate.

Return from crime scene. Exciting, but short. Won't be long before the adrenalin wears off and boredom sets in. Idea occurs.

“John, I feel a bit feverish.”

Look of concern. Should delete at least some of that folder; it takes up so much space. Can't bring myself to, too endearing. Hand on forehead.

“You temp seems all right. Probably just the exertion. Does anything else hurt?”

“My heart.”

“Your heart?” Hand on chest. Grab hand by wrist and pull it down, over abdomen.

“Sherlock, that isn't where your heart is.” Shrug. He doesn't get it yet. Place hand on his chest. Splay fingers; forefinger and middle finger together, ring finger and little finger together. He looks down. Surprise. Confusion. Recognition. Now we're getting somewhere.

“Orders, Captain?” Flicker of a smile. “Dammit Sherlock, I'm a doctor, not a sci-fi captain.” I smile. For once I understand a popular culture reference. Fingers on his head. Mind-melding procedure.

“Didn't think you'd be one for ro-” Cut off by kiss. Break away (too soon! But necessary). Stunned expression. Need to clear out a few folders for this. Dispose of a suicide note and the results of an old experiment. Were never useful anyway. Wait.

“Do you...that is, are you...” Smile. Genuine smile (not as hard as it usually is, probably to do with his face). Receive smile in return. Hesitant, cautious, but still there. Bring face back down to his.

“T'hy'la.” Whisper word against lips. Kiss again. Fascinating.

 


End file.
